The Italian financial system remodelled / Pierluigi Ciocca.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ciocca, Pierluigi, 1941-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Finance--Italy.

Finance.

Italy.

Financial institutions--Italy.

Financial institutions.

Physical Description:

xii, 247 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.

Summary:

Italy's banking and financial system, as it emerged from the depression and crisis of the 1930s, has been replaced by an entirely different structure. The new system is similar in form to those prevailing internationally. Legislation, taxation, supervision and competition - economic and institutional policies - have all contributed to the change. They now constitute a suitable framework, in line with those of the other advanced market economies. This book reconstructs the transformation, analysing the relationship of the financial system to the difficulties that the Italian economy has experienced. Since, despite some residual shortcomings, the financial industry has shown improvement, the economic stagnation of the 1990s cannot be blamed on banking and finance. Its roots lie elsewhere and are much deeper. The financial industry can help to overcome the Italian economy's present contradiction: while equilibrium has been restored, growth is not as strong as it could be. The value of the industry's contribution depends on additional governmental measures bearing on the institutional framework. Above all, it depends on market operators - the actions of bankers and financiers - but also on the ability of households and business to exploit the full potential of the instruments offered by the financial sector.

Contents:

1 A Mutation 1

The new forms of the Italian financial system 3

Finance and the sectors of the economy 25

A tendency to converge? 33

2 The Institutional and Analytical Framework 36

The legal order 41

Taxation 44

Supervision 51

Competition 62

3 The Legal Order 69

The amendments to the legal framework of banking and finance 73

The legal system: an overview 90

The adequacy of the legal system 99

The legal order and change 103

4 Taxation 106

The fiscal burden and tax neutrality for the financial sector 106

Taxation and the structure of the financial system 114

The revised model 122

Taxation and change 128

5 Supervision 130

Independent authorities 132

The Bank of Italy: monetary management and supervision 139

The Bank of Italy's supervisory activities 143

Supervision and change 162

6 Competition 163

The initial conditions and the turning-point of the 1970s 164

Up to 1990 167

After 1990 172

Competition and change 181

7 Performance 185

Banks 186

Institutional investors and markets 196

The financial industry: advances and lags 201

8 A Stagnant Economy 203

The stagnation of the Italian economy in the 1990s 203

The causes: 'real', not financial 211

9 Finance and Growth 221

Schumpeter revisited 221

Better finance, more growth 225

Quid agendum 227

10 The Outlook 233.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 236-247).

ISBN:

1403934797

OCLC:

55746657